Security Support for Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 to be terminated on February 15th 2010

One year after the release of Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 alias "lenny" andnearly three years after the release of Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 alias "etch"the security support for the old distribution (4.0 alias "etch") iscoming to an end next month. The Debian project is proud to be able tosupport its old distribution for such a long time and even for one yearafter a new version has been released.

The Debian project released Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 alias "lenny" on the15th of February 2009. Users and Distributors have been given a one-yeartimeframe to upgrade their old installations to the current stablerelease. Hence, the security support for the old release of 4.0 is goingto end in February 2010 as previously announced.

Previously announced security updates for the old release will continueto be available on security.debian.org.

Upgrades to Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 from the previous release, DebianGNU/Linux 4.0 alias "etch" are automatically handled by the aptitudepackage management tool for most configurations, and to a certain degreealso by the apt-get package management tool. As always, Debian GNU/Linuxsystems can be upgraded painlessly, in place, without any forceddowntime, but it is strongly recommended to read the release notes[1] forpossible issues, and for detailed instructions on installing andupgrading.